manynovel Chapter 323 This woman is no longer his concubine, she's become his grandmother!
Chapter 323 This woman is no longer his concubine, she's become his grandmother!
Du Xiurong had her makeup done properly, but no matter what, her appearance could never be the same as before.
The strange thing about this Thousand Days Powder is that its toxicity has an extremely long incubation period, and once it takes effect, there is no cure.
The person in the mirror looked thirty years older than yesterday, which Du Xiurong found unbearable. She was so heartbroken that she wanted to cry. Seeing that hiding was useless, she had no choice but to hide in the mosquito net and lower it.
She dared not let the emperor see her.
As soon as Li Yuanke stepped into Baoci Palace, the eldest princess rushed over like a small cannonball. The accompanying eunuchs and guards were terrified and quickly surrounded the emperor, with the guards drawing their long swords.
The eldest princess was terrified. She looked up at her father, only to see him standing with his hands at his sides, coldly staring at her.
The eldest princess immediately knelt down, "Father, it's your daughter! Mother has been poisoned! You must avenge her!"
The eldest princess uttered the word "revenge" through gritted teeth, adding, "Father, you must make the person who poisoned Mother pay with her life!"
Therefore, parents must be careful with their words and actions. The phrase "to be buried with someone" originally came from Li Yuanke's mouth.
However, expecting an emperor to reflect on his actions is less likely than hoping a boar can climb a tree.
Even if it was his own children, who had never been expected of or loved, the emperor was very disgusted that his daughter was asking him for things. Looking down at her, he thought to himself that if she were his legitimate daughter, she would never do such an outrageous thing, and she would never embarrass him like this.
Du Xiurong, who had been hiding, rushed out upon hearing that her daughter had once again gone to her father, the Emperor, to plead for mercy. She grabbed the princess and begged Li Yuanke, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! The eldest princess is still young, and my son is ignorant. Please, Your Majesty, do not hold it against him!"
Li Yuanke glanced at Consort Du and saw that she had aged considerably. She was no longer his concubine; she was practically his grandmother!
Li Yuanke withdrew his gaze. "To be buried with your mother? Very well! Tell me, who poisoned your mother?"
Du Xiurong forbade the eldest princess to speak, but the princess, having rarely had such an opportunity, struggled and resentfully declared, "In the entire harem, besides the Empress, there is no one else!"
Li Yuanke was utterly enraged. He was completely disappointed in the eldest princess. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Du Shi, did you send the eldest princess to say these things before me?"
Before Du Xiurong could even kowtow and speak, the eldest princess shouted, "It was your own idea to say it; it has nothing to do with Mother!"
Du Xiurong hurriedly said, "Your Highness, I'm begging you, please stop!"
She then apologized to the emperor, saying, "It is my fault for failing to properly educate my daughter. Your Majesty, please punish me if you wish!"
Li Yuanke said, "When you poisoned Consort Jing, did you ever think that this day would come? The Empress and I have both said the same thing: you scheme against each other, frame and poison each other. As long as it doesn't involve the imperial heirs, the Empress and I will not interfere."
"You sent someone to summon me. What is it you wish to do? Speak!"
Since things had come to this point, Consort Du could no longer resist. She defiantly said, "Your Majesty is wise, but since Your Majesty doesn't care, why, knowing that it was I who poisoned Consort Jing, did Your Majesty demote me? Isn't this a form of punishment?"
Li Yuanke let out a sneer, which was extremely grating.
"If I intended to punish you, do you think you would still be kneeling here alive? I will only demote you, but I will still reserve a palace lord position for you?"
"You caused trouble in the inner palace and even in the imperial court, disgracing me. I gave you a small punishment as a warning, but you are ungrateful and continue to make a ruckus day and night. Are you all tired of living?"
Li Yuanke was too lazy to talk to this fool, and he glanced at the eldest princess with great disappointment before turning around and leaving. When he reached the door, he was caught up by the fourth prince.
"Father!"
Li Yuanke stopped in his tracks, looking at this son who was completely unfamiliar to him. He was plump and white, like a steamed bun. He felt extremely disappointed in Du Xiurong; she couldn't even raise her children to be good. He asked impatiently, "What is it?"
The fourth prince boldly said, "I've heard that the pastries in the Empress Dowager's palace are delicious, and I'd like to try some chiffon cake as well."
Li Yuanke looked him up and down, said nothing, and walked away.
The fourth prince dared not pursue the matter, and asked the young eunuch beside him, "What do you think Father Emperor meant?"
The young eunuch dared not tell the truth, "Fourth Prince, His Majesty was in a bad mood just now. Would you like to reschedule?"
The fourth prince was also discouraged. "It's all my mother's and eldest sister's fault. They just had to make Father unhappy."
Was it easy for him to get a bite to eat? In the end, his mother and eldest sister insisted on making things difficult for him.
He had eaten chiffon cakes from the Empress Dowager's palace, but after hearing his virtuous mother say that the ones from his mother's palace were even better and tasted different, he had been craving them for a long time.
The fourth prince, too lazy to listen to his mother and eldest sister secretly cursing him again, went to his virtuous mother's palace, where he could play with his second brother and fourth sister. His virtuous mother loved to cook delicious food, which suited his taste perfectly.
When Li Yuanke returned, he told Shen Shixi that Du Xiurong's face was unbearable to look at. "It will probably take me another thirty or forty years to age to that extent. How can this Thousand Day Powder be so powerful?"
"If such a potent poison were to circulate freely within the harem, neither you nor I would likely escape its clutches."
Shen Shixi said, "Don't think of it that way. This prescription was given by Ginkgo and then to Jiafu Palace. Jiafu Palace later gave the prescription to Jiangling You, who then gave it to me. I've already destroyed it."
"What if they remember it? What's the point of destroying it?"
Shen Shixi said, "This kind of prescription is only used for revenge. If someone really wants to do something to you or me, they would never use such a slow and meticulous prescription. Wouldn't it be easier to just use arsenic?"
"What are you thinking? Our Emperor's face is so handsome! If anyone dares to use such despicable means to harm you and ruin my life's happiness, I will make sure they suffer a terrible death!"
Li Yuanke was overjoyed inside, but outwardly he was very dissatisfied. "You like my face? Aren't I good enough for you?"
"Great, of course it's great!" Shen Shixi hugged him and showered him with kisses. "My husband is the best!"
Li Yuanke cursed "you dog" while holding her tightly, afraid she would fall off him. He only dared to kiss her once, afraid of provoking this bastard again. The more he liked her before, the more afraid he was now.
The next afternoon, I heard that my cousin was rushing to the palace to submit her credentials. Before that, Chaoyu told Shen Shixi that Han Xiao had beaten up Prime Minister Cui after court.
Shen Shixi was startled. "Is he alright?"
"Vice Commander Han certainly knows his limits. The Emperor sent a physician, and although he has bruises all over his body, he is fine. However, this matter is not easy to resolve."
Shen Shixi breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as they're alive, that's good. Whether things end well or not depends on how we handle it. Go and invite Madam Han in!"
Du Hanyun is pregnant again. As soon as she entered, she tried to bow, but Shen Shixi quickly had someone help her up. "No, you're already so pregnant, how could you get pregnant again so soon? Can't you take it easy?"
Du Hanyun was so anxious she was practically steaming, her eyes red from crying. "Stop talking nonsense! You have to think of a solution for him! Now all the civil officials in the court are going to impeach him. How could he be so outrageous? How could he do something so brainless?"
This matter is also related to Shen Shixi. Since the Mid-Autumn Festival, the civil officials in the court have been swarming around Shen Shixi like flies. Li Yuanke has protected her tightly, so they have started to take unorthodox methods. They have used Du Hanyun's divorce and defined her premarital pregnancy with Han Xiao as adultery, saying that she was instructed by the Empress to do such a scandalous thing.
Can Han Xiao hold back?